Exploring the land of Kantara - 1

Our trip started with the idea of visiting just one temple called the Moogambikai temple in Kollur, Karnataka. We flew from Chennai to Mangalore via Indigo airlines and took a cab to the hotel which was an hour away from Mangalore International airport. Our stay was in Country Inn & Suites by Radisson group in Manipal. A great place to stay with excellent amenities including their exceptional morning breakfast. I highly recommend this place if you are looking to stay in Manipal. Manipal is a beautiful little city in the interiors of Karnataka. This place is known for the famous Manipal University. The city buzzes with university grads from different places.

The first day, we started to the temple called Murdeshwar Shiva temple. The Murdeshwar Temple is a Hindu temple located in Murdeshwar, Karnataka, India. It is dedicated to Lord Shiva and is one of the most famous tourist attractions in the state. The temple is known for its 20-story high Rajagopura tower and a statue of Lord Shiva that stands 123 feet tall. It is situated on the coast of the Arabian Sea and offers beautiful views of the sea and the surrounding area. It is said that, Lord Shiva gave the Hindu Demon King Ravana the “Atma Linga” as a gift for his penance. The temple has the cloth which covered the “Atma linga”. The story of how this unfolds is very interesting requires a separate article.

After finishing the visit to the shiva abode, we started our journey to Moogambikai temple. Moogambikai temple is located in Kollur, Karnataka. It is about an hour journey from Murdeshwar. The temple is located in the hills of Kollur. On the way to the temple you are just awestruck by the scenic beauty of the lush forest and smell of nature. Pristine. The temple has an energy where you are at peace instantly and the goddess Moogambikai is so beautiful and graceful. The temple is considered one of the most important and sacred shrines of the goddess and is one of the seven major pilgrimage centers in the state of Karnataka. It is believed that the temple was built over 1200 years ago and has been a major pilgrimage site for devotees of the goddess Moogambikai. A legend states that, Sage Adi Shankara, a great Advaita philosopher and one of the greatest exponents of the Hindu philosophy of non-dualism, had a vision of the goddess in his dream, in which she directed him to a spot where he would find an idol of her. Shankara followed her instructions and found an idol of the goddess in the dense forest, which he installed in the temple.

The temple is also considered as one of the seven Mukti Sthalas, the seven sacred places, where devotees can attain salvation. The temple is also one of the 18 Shakti Peethas, where the various parts of Sati Devi's body is said to have fallen when Lord Shiva performed Tandava carrying her corpse.

Overall, the temple is considered an important religious and spiritual site for Hindus and is closely associated with the goddess Moogambikai, who is believed to have established her divine presence in the temple in the form of a Jyoti.

From here on, we visited few other temples on the way back to our hotel which includes Anegudde Vinayaka temple and Sri Chandika Durga Parameshwari temple.

We were so happy to have visited 4 temples in a day that so much historic significance and most importantly made us realize how much more hidden gems lie in South India alone! I will talk about the food and few other temples around Mangalore in my next article.